Chinese competitor buys Segway

Chinese Ninebot has bought its more well-known competitor Segway. The Chinese company has admittedly mimicked a lot from its American competitor and some analysts believe the acquisition has to do with Segway's patents.

Patents

Ninebot came to life in 2012 thanks to a crowdfunding project and its products are currently on sale in more than 38 countries. The company has now acquired more than 400 patents belonging to Segway. In November 2014, the American international trade committee launched an investigation into Ninebot and other Chinese companies selling similar products on the American market. According to Segway, these companies were violating its patents, but with this acquisition, Ninebot has now circumvented that claim.

The Segway was invented in 2001 and the company was sold to the Summit Strategic Investments group in 2013. Now, that group has once again sold off the company.

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